Chapter 3

No ones pov

Luts was panicking.

Yesterday, after the kids finished gathering, Myne got lost in the forest. Tuly, along with Luts and his brothers, searched for as long as they could but once the gate was about to close they had to give up. He didn't envy Tuly for having to tell her family about Mynes' disappearance. Death was a constant companion for commoners, disease, hunger, infection, cold, heat, rain, in all honesty the only thing that didn't threaten the majority of them was the fe-beasts. The creatures were so valuable that all but the most harmless ones were immediately hunted by nobility whenever they appeared.

But no one believed that Myne was dead. It was illogical, there was simply no way a sickly child could survive the night in a forest filled with fea-beasts and in the rain no less. Yet something in them refused to even consider the possibility of Myne dying.

So the next day Lutz and Tuly returned to the forest and began searching once more. But hours passed and Myne was nowhere to be found. It didn't make sense, how could she even get this far? She shouldn't have anywhere near the amount of strength required to make it this far out.

He was about to despair, to assume that he and the rest were simply in denial, that the voice telling them Myne still lived was lying. Then he saw her, lying against a nearby tree. He must have missed her small form when he passed her before. In the shade of a towering Oak, Myne slept peacefully. Rushing over, the blond immediately checked her breathing. She was alive, asleep, cold, and likely sick, but she was alive.

Placing her on his back, Luts all but sprinted back to the others. "I found her! Tuly I found her!" The teal haired girl rushed to him, grabbing Myne into her arms.

"She's alive, She's alive, thank the gods she's alive." Tuly cried in relief. She cried her eyes out in pure relief that her little sister was still with her. After a while she devolved into incomprehensible babbling, tears and snot running down her face.

It took a full 15 minutes for Tuly to finally calm down, and when she did the elder sister turned to Luts. "T-Thank you Luts. Thank you, thank you, thank you." She embraced Luts, almost knocking the smaller boy over, the remnants of her tears staining his shirt. Awkwardly patting the older girl's head, Luts rolled his eyes when he noticed Ralph's glare at him. But the gaze softened when he saw the small figure of Myne resting on a small patch of grass, evidently realizing the circumstances he walked in on.

"So she was actually still alive." Ralph said, drawing Tuly away from the blond. He walked over and raised the bluenette onto his back with no hesitation. "If I'm being honest I didn't expect that. Not complainin, mind ya, just surprised." He didn't wait for either to respond, simply walking back in the direction of the gate, only pausing when he noticed that the two weren't following him. "Well are ya commin or what? Won't do her any good to just leave her on the ground like that. Nothing worth gatherin anyway, all the good stuff washed away in that storm. Only weeds and the like now."

Ralph was right. Normally nobody would gather after a storm like that, the mud would make any food they found inedible, and wood would be absolutely soaked. Myne was the only reason they were in the forest at all. The two who had yet to move exchanged a smile before they ran after the eldest.

The sun was high in the sky when the three finally returned to their shared home. When Gunther and Effa, Myne's parents, saw their youngest daughter they embraced the small girl, overwhelmed by joy. Everyone in their building, along with several others who were friends of either Effa or Gunther, were more than happy to see the child safe. Even without ever meeting the girl all of them knew the pain of losing family, so avoiding that was worth more than any amount of gold. Even Otto, who would normally never come to this part of town, showed up once he heard of Mynes' survival. Although, if asked he would admit that part of his excitement at not losing his only helper at the gate. The party lasted for the entirety of the day, and well into the night. Darkness was no obstacle for their joy at staving off death. By the end, some of them were so drunk that they literally passed out on their feet.

Asterios pov.

It was strange, but not unpleasant for me to see the party thrown for my masters survival. It was a festival in all but name, with food and drink abundant for all. About half way through I decided to 'contribute' some food for the celebration. It was for my master after all, no reason to risk them going hungry. If they found a little bit of extra food in the pantry, then that was just a lucky break, nothing more.

I thought back to the effort it took for me to get Master back to her family.

5 hour ago

From what I understood, magic was a secret that would endanger Master if it was revealed. Meaning I couldn't return her myself. Luckily, Master had a habit of talking in her sleep. Her mumbling was hard to understand, something about books, paper, and -crushing? Clearly Master was far beyond a half sane beast like me, but with some effort I was able to gain a bit of information. I'm glad I did, cause knowing she had a family that treated her well made my job much easier.

So I moved my focus to observing the city's gate, it was similar enough to a labyrinth for me to instinctively be able to sense the ones inside. Nothing specific but I could tell when someone left or entered. All that was left to wait for children matching the description I plucked from Master's mind. I feel a bit bad about that but she would forgive considering the situation. Probably, hopefully, if I'm lucky.

When they finally appeared they were among a small group of a similar age. quickly splitting into several smaller groups they began to call for Master. Seeing them calling her name so casually irritated me. Master was someone loved by Gaia herself, she could maintain a heroic sprite by herself without even the slightest effort, and most of all she was kind to me, a lowly monster, despite being so beloved. She was someone that should be respected by all, my instincts told me so. Yet these inconsequential humans, without a single blessing to call their own, called out her name like it was normal.

No. Calm down, they're close to Master. Searching for her. Breathing deeply I managed to rein my temper in before I did something that would anger my master. My Irritation didn't disappear but that's normal. I was a berserker, albeit a relatively restrained one.

I cradled Master in my arms as I singled out a teal and a blond. If I remember correctly they were her elder sister and friend respectively. I waited for a bit to evaluate them. If they weren't going to put in such a small effort then they would just put Master in danger. It was quite a pleasant surprise when they continued to search even after most of the others gave up. Noting the others who still searched; I stealthy lay Master beneath a sturdy tree and return to spirit form.

Present.

Master was lying down on the pile of straw and rags that her family called a 'bed'. Making matters worse, she even shared it with her sister. This was wrong, horribly, absolutely, positively wrong. My master, who accepted me instantly despite my nature as a monster, who is loved by Gaia herself, is living in poverty. The desire to aid her burned in my chest, sharper than any pain I ever experienced. Master deserved every boon the world has to offer, for her to be living in such a state is absolutely unacceptable. Dark thoughts filled me as I plotted to give my master the luxury that was her birthright. I sensed a castle nearby, it was not as grand as the one over my labyrinth but it would do for now. The current residence was irrelevant, they would be grateful to host my master.

Wait. Even in my clouded mind I still noticed the irregularity. Those thoughts weren't mine. Someone, no something, was influencing me. It wasn't my master, her dislike for such deads was clear to me even after being with her for less than a week. But who? I tried to follow the trail of mana to find the culprit, but such a feat was beyond me. A caster would do so with ease, hell even an assassin might be able, but my attempts only made the mana dissipate. With the trail's disappearance I nearly swore, only holding back when I considered my masters' young age. I let an unknown escape, one that was likely hostile but even in the best case scenario their methods conflicted with my masters. It irritates me, but I could do nothing at the moment.

My gaze returning to Master, I began to consider my next actions as best I could. Not an easy task when your mind is coated in madness. After a full hour of failed attempts, I gave up. While I was sane by berserker standards; strategy was far beyond me. I would have to wait for Master to awake. I hated thrusting such a burden onto one of her young age, but there was no other option. A mystery that could affect a heroic spirit, albeit temporary, had to be addressed sooner rather than later. But for now I will rest. Wait, I am able to rest? That wasn't right, heroic spirits neither have the need nor the ability to rest. So why am I so tired?

I considered the differences between my summons and the information provided by Gaia. The lack of a catalyst? Annoying but nothing that could cause such a difference. A lack of mana? Absolutely not, my master had more mana than the average layline. The summoning itself? Master clearly didn't intend to summon me, but that shouldn't create such a difference. A ridiculous thought occurred to me, something that was so utterly absurd that most wouldn't even consider it for a moment. Summoning a heroic spirit would always get a copy. One with no need for sleep, food, water, or anything else a living being requires. The very desire for such things were purged from the copies upon their creation. It was impossible to summon the original, that was simply a fact.

But to my knowledge, no one was summoned by a master loved by Gaia. The throne was a part of Alaya, which was in turn part of the planet's collective will. Plucking the original soul would be child's play. This would explain my desire to sleep, along with the subtle burning of my throat I now recognised as thirst. If I was the original my natural urges would not be removed; doing so would risk damaging my very existence. The exact details were beyond me, even with Gaia granting me knowledge I could never hope to understand how the system worked. I held no illusions of my intellect, even while sane I held no more intellect than a mature child. To comprehend the throne of heroes would require the mind of a genius, one that I couldn't dream of possessing.

There was only one way to prove my theory. Moving through the building, I made my way deep into the forest far beyond where I found my master. Conducting my 'test' in the city would be utterly idiotic. Not only would it reveal my master, but it would destroy the majority of the city. When I reached a point where the lights of the city could no longer be seen I began my experiment.

"Wander! Lost! Die! Chaos Labyrinth!" My idea was simple, only the original would be able to summon forth the true power of their noble phantasm. If I was a copy then my labyrinth would eventually be cut off before completion. This was not the case, as my labyrinth, my home and prison, appeared in its entirety. Stretching for miles underground, it's size dwarfed the city. This was absolute proof of my theory. Regardless of the circumstances, no copy would be capable of what I just accomplished.

Normally this would leave me with more questions than answers. After all, to summon the true version of a heroic spirit, without the aid of Alaya no less, should have been utterly impossible. But when I consider that my master was loved by the very will of the planet the situation made sense. Gaia loved Master. When Gaia is endangered, true servants are summoned. Threatening something one loved is the same as threatening the person. Therefore if Master, who is loved by Gaia, is attacked the planet would take action to protect her. When I was summoned, master was being attacked by that large pig. That was for some reason filled with mana? Not important. I dismissed that line of thought, the unique monster was far less important than my master.

If anyone ever found out about her existence she would be locked up and experimented on. Just like what was done to that planet terminal. I think his name was Marem? Regardless, such an outcome was unexceptable. Not only for my master, but any other poor fool that happened to be in the way. Because unlike the planet terminals, Gaia wouldn't allow any harm to come to Master. It was not impossible that the Counter-Force would be invoked if the situation grew too bad. I didn't even want to imagine what would happen if she died. All my efforts only served to make my head hurt.

The only option was to try my best to protect her when the storm inevitably arrived. And it would come, I was certain of that. There was no doubt in my mind that Master would turn this world on its head. The best I could do was keep her safe from the inevitable chaos.

Realising my labyrinth, I returned to my masters home. When I crossed the city's wall I noticed the influence from before growing in power. Not enough to affect me now I was actively resisting it, but it suggested that the culprit was in the city.

I should inform Master of this. No doubt she will make better use of it than I ever could. Now the old, but stable building my Master called home stood before me. She was still sleeping, likely exhausted from her ordeal in the forest. If she was as sickly as I assume; she wouldn't awake for at least a day. Until then I would wait at her side, if any were foolish enough to attack my master they would learn how sharp my axe's truly are.

AN:

And that's the third chapter. A bit shorter than my last one but I wanted to get this little transition chapter out before the next one. I don't have a lot of long term plans for this fic, I never do for stuff like this, but in the short term I have a few ideas. The next few chapters are gonna have some massive changes from canon, starting with the meeting with Benno. That was the main reason for giving Myne Asterios so early. In case anyone is wondering, no main events aren't going to be completely discarded. The end results are still going to resemble the LN. What's going to change is how they occur.

Secondly, I don't intend to summon any original servants. In all honesty I am not a big fan of the concept, the servants tend to be either overly edgy, or just watered down versions of canon servants. Not saying it can't be done well but I don't recall any fics that accomplish. I am not anywhere near a good enough writer to do such a difficult concept justice. Now will there be Omakes of such things? Absolutely, some of the ideas recommended to me are amazing. Basically if I think an idea is good but it wouldn't work for the fic in the long term I will make an Omake.

I might even end up making a separate fic as a collection of one shots where Myne summons various servants at various points in time. That being said.

Omake: The saint of Arensfest.

Delia pov.

I was speechless. Someone could come up to me and slap my face and I wouldn't react in the slightest. What the hell is going on?! One moment I'm dressing Sister Myne for her meeting with the high priest. The next some massive flash of light appears and blasts the room apart. Furniture was knocked over, the carpet rolled up in places, and even the candles on the wall got blown out. Most of all, why is Sister Myne so nonchalant about this?! The blue-shrine maiden merely sighed at my questioning look, gesturing for me to wait a moment. I nearly erupted in frustration until a melodious voice halted my thoughts.

"Servant Ruler, my true name is Rozmyne, Saint of Ehrenfest. I hope our future endeavors are blessed by the gods." Only a noble would say something that grand. I don't know why a noble would be here but either way I needed to show the proper respect. Dropping to my knees, I entered the position I was trained to take for as long as I could remember. Arms crossing on my chest and head bowed.

"I humbly apologise for not taking the proper measures for your visit. I beg for your forgiveness, dear noble." My heart was pounding in my chest. A noble could kill me without reason, they didn't need one. Commoners are absolutely subject to the will of the nobility, and we of the temple are beneath even them. My only way to survive is to hope that whoever arrived is whimsical enough to spare me. Barely managing to suppress my tears of fear, I waited for my judgement. I don't want to die. I don't want to die. I want to live.

"Well, this is a surprise." Sister Myne said, utterly calm despite the dire situation. Is she insane? I nearly screamed my thoughts, only stopping when I remembered the noble in the room.

"I knew summoning Spirits from the future was possible but I never expected for this to happen." What is she talking about? Summoning? Spirits? The future? What in the world is going on?

"Yes, I never imagined that I would enter the throne. Much less be summoned before my own time." The dust finally settled and I caught a glimpse of the noble figure. Normally I would return my gaze to the floor, looking at a noble could easily be interpreted as disrespect. Except when I looked at the form clothed in robes of pure white with flowers embroidered in gold. Why is there a second Sister Myne? Why does she talk like a noble? And Why is she so unfazed by this situation?

The second Myne scanned the room with eyes filled with, nostalgia? Regret? Frustration? She never showed such feelings before and yet they were clearly present. Her tells were all there. The slight glistening in the corner of her eyes, a subtle trembling in her hand. Had I not spent the better part of a year with the shrine maiden I would never have noticed them.

Only then did her words hit me. Rosemyne. She called herself Rosemyne not Myne. And she was supposedly a saint? Were they truly the same person? Physically they were identical, and yet their behavior was completely different. Sister Myne was emotional and whimsical. She tried to put on an act of being refined and noble, but if something unexpected happened the facade would shatter. The current situation was a perfect example of this. She was no longer even trying to maintain her act, fully letting her natural personality through. But this Rosemyne was elegant this entire time.

The saint's eyes came to a stop on me, freezing my blood in an instant. Cold. That was all I could see in her eyes. None of the prior emotions were present, there wasn't even the lust or disgust that the noble blue priests had the few times I saw them. Simply an empty cold that seemed to consume everything that she looked at. Her rainbow orbs pulled me in until they were all that I saw. Wait, rainbow? Yes her eyes were not the same radiant gold as Sister Myne; instead they were a beautiful ever changing rainbow. They spiraled and dilated with no clear pattern. Red to blue to green to orange to violet, to orange back to red to violet to-. "Delia""Delia""Delia"

"Delia"

"Delia, wake up!" Sister Myne shook me out of the daze those eyes left me. When I turned my head I saw the bluenette with tears in her eyes.

"Wh-wha? Sister Myne? What are you doing?" Even at her worst, the shrine maiden never did something like this. She knew that one wrong move could get her killed or worse, so why would she break down in such a manner?

"Getting you back to your senses, of course! You were looking into Ruler's eyes for 5 minutes, you were barely breathing for god's sake!"

"E-eh?! I was doing that!?" My surprise turned to terror when I processed the implications. I was staring at a noble, looking directly at her face. Such an act is a great insult to the nobility. Casting my gaze back to the floor; waiting for the inevitable judgement.

"Calm yourself Delia." A small hand landed on my shoulder, drawing my attention back to the saint. I am now certain that it was no mere claim, for only a saint could have a smile that radiates in such a manner. "I do not blame you for falling prey to my noble phantasm, it is my deepest regret that I can't deactivate it." Her white and gold robes shifted as the saint looked down in discomfort. I couldn't understand why, but that didn't matter. Whatever the reason, I made this beautiful person, who's looks surpass even the greatest of the temple's art, feel such an emotion.

I need to fix this. For someone so pure, so holy, to feel anything other than joy, it was unexceptable.

"N-no." I clear my dry throat. "Lady Rosemyne please don't trouble yourself with me." my words only cause her to sigh in regret. Turning to Sister Myne, rainbow eyes met gold in a silent conversation.

For Sister Myne to converse with the saint. Truly she is blessed by the gods. My eyes never left the pair, so similar but at the same time so different. Like the ocean and the sky, both are vast in their glory and mystery. But no matter how much the two resemble each other, they are still entirely unique.

"No offense Ruler, but your stats are rather… lacking? That isn't the right word but I can't really think of any other way to describe them. I mean, your strength, agility, and endurance are all E. But your mana, luck, and noble phantasm are ranked EX. Seriously, what kind of spread is that?" the shrine maiden scratches her head in a rare show of frustration. Lady Rosemynes only response was an awkward laugh.

"Yeah, I don't really get it either. In all honesty I don't even know why I'm a Servant in the first place." She paused, tilting her head in contemplation. "Actually now that I think of it, yeah that would make sense." With her gaze on the floor, lady Rosemyne drifted into thought.

After a while Sister Myne and I exchanged confused glances. When 5 minutes passed with no sign of lady Rosemyne returning to reality the bluenette finally had enough.

"Are you going to let us in on your little revelation or should we just guess?" I nearly jumped out of my skin at the disrespect shown. To treat a saint in such a manner, was sister Myne mad?

Before I could voice my concerns, Lady Rosemyne placated me with a wave. "It's fine Delia, such a response is well within her rights as my summoner. If anything I shouldn't have gotten so lost in my mind."

Summoner? What does that mean? Every time she spoke it seemed like I only received more questions.

"Regardless, my suspicion is that it was probably Ferdinand's fault. It was his idea to make me into a saint after all."

Sister Myne only cast her golden eyes to the floor in annoyance, "yeah, sounds like something that black hearted…" The blue shrine maiden froze, clearly remembering my presence in the room. "Delia, would you mind informing fran that I require a meeting with the high priest?" Her dark smile sent shivers down my spine. Without hesitation I fled the room, whatever they were going to discuss wasn't worth being on the wrong side of that smile.

Geeze only Sister Myne could create such a mess. Despite this I couldn't stop a smile from stretching across my face. A saint, I met and even talked to, an honest to goodness saint.

AN: That's the first Omake. This was a lot more entertaining to write than I expected. I might even end up making this a side story. But make no mistake, nothing that happens in this Omakes, or side stories, are canon. If anyone has a problem with that, I literally couldn't care less. The only person I write for is myself, plain and simple. Reviews and suggestions are still welcome but if you are only going to hate without actually providing a way to improve then don't.

Long story short, criticism is welcome but please don't be an ass.

So review, worship the log, try to resist the saint's purity, fail miserably, and review again. (credit to From Fake Dreams for the outro.)